Herald and tribune. [volume] (Jonesborough, Tenn.) 1869-current, 1887-05-19
THE DRINK BILL.
AMERICANS SPEND FOR
WHISKEY WINE AND BEER.
Bibulous Brltishers. Frcnchmen n
Germans and Their Beverages.

increase. Another is that the drink bill
exceeds that of food, schools churches
and charities combined. Still another Is
that the drink habit Is more prevalent In
the United States than In any other Of
the countries claiming to be civilized.
All these statements are ex~aggerations
doubtless, and 1t may be Of interest to
people TO know the exact facts In the
case so far as they are available from
government and other statistics, the re-
liability Of which cannot be successfully
disputed. The drinking habits of the
American people are far more general
and costly than they should be, but the
cause of temperance cannot be advanced
by painting the drink devil blacker than
he Is. The plain. %unvarnished truth
should be told even about King Alcohol
and his doings.
In response to an increasing demand
for reliable information upon this sub
ject Mr.. Switzlcr, Chief of the Bureau OF
Statistics at Washington, prepared in his
last quarterly report a statement bearing
upon this topic, the basis of which is the
amount of distilled spirits, beer and wine
upon which internal revenue taxes or
customs duties are collected annually In
the United States. According to this
statement the per capita consumption OF
distilled spirits In the United States for
1886 was 1.24 gallons; Of wine, .3S gal
Ions; of beer, Ills gallons, or a total
per capita consumption of distilled, vi
nous and malt liquors Of 22.6s gallons,
or 1877, e96, 554 gallons in all. For this
sum total of all kinds Of liquors manu-
featured or imported for consumption
the manufacturers, importers and whole
sale dealers realized 5000. 0OO, 900. Mr.,
Switzler shows that the retailers made
an average profit upon this cost price OF
1884 per cent, thus swelling the cost TO
the consumers to 500, 0O0, 900, or a trile
less than twelve dollars per capita, as
suming the present population to be not
far from sixty millions. His figures are
based upon the assumption that the re.
taller sells sixty drinks per gallon of
whisky, at an average of seven and a half
cents per drink, realizing $3.50 per gal
Ion; that he gets two dollars per gallon
for native and four dollars for imported
wines, and fifty cents per gallon for ma
tive and one dollar for imported beer.
This estimate of 500, OOO, 900 consumed
by the people Of the United States annu-
ally for drinks is c%orroborated by so good
q statistician as Edward Atkinson, who
arrives at practically the same conclusion
In a different way.
Seven hundred million dollars is a big
sum to be allowed to run down thu
throats Of the American people in a sin
gle year. But what relation does 1t bea
to the other expenditures of the people
/ lAccording to the census reports Of 1888
/, tthe total value of the products of all thu
industries of that year was a trifie les
than $40, 900, 600, 900, or a little less thai
5000 per capita. The annual reports OIL
commerce and navigation show that thi
ratio of production has been maintained
since that time. Assuming that twenty
five per cent. of this per capita produc
ton goes for interest, taxes, wear AM
tear of plant and increase of permanen
improvements, 1t would still leave S15I
as the average per capita income Of tn,
people available for ordinary living ex
penses. This estimate would place tn
drink bill at the ratio of 81 for ever,
$12.5 10 spent for other articles connecteI
with the cost of ordinary support, a sun
|, much too large, 1t is true, but not s
enormously disproportionate to all othe
expenditures as people have been led I
believe.
4 Is drunkenness on the increase? II til
q total consumption of all kinds of liquor
at the present day as compared with fit
{ years ago was taken as the basis upo
: which to form q judgment the answc
would have 10 be in the affirmative. TIL
9 per capita consumption of all kinds {
liquors in 1886 was 1892 gallons, {
Z against All gallons in 1910. But a
a analysis Of this statement shows that
great change has come over the drinkin
habits Of the people and that while thel
has been a great increase in the tot
4 amount Of liquor consumed the increa:
= has been in the milder beverages excl,
d sively. The per capita consumption
st distilled spirits in 1910 was 2.52 gallon
as against 1.24 gallons in 1886. In 9th,
words, the per capita consumption
, whisky and other strong liquors has d
&c creased more than ne-half in half n cei
II fury. The per capita consumption
wine under the stimulus of q grown
domestic supply has increased from ):
y gallons in 1910 to. 3S gallons in 1888
The increase in the use Of domestic wint
covers the increase in per capita col
n sumption as well as the entire increaI
in population, the importatiens Of 70
70 eign wines in 1910 having been 4,74S.3
and only 4,700,0 900 gallons in 1888
y Strange to say, the consumption Of dome
IT tic wine seems to be falling off, the col
!, sumption having been SO gallons p
u capita In 1880 and only .3S in 1886. b
p 1t Is when we come TO the consumptiC
of malt liquors that the most marvelo,
il changes appear. The per capita CO
:. sumption Of malt liquors in 1910 w
10 only 1885 gallons. In 1885 1t had ris,
to Ills gallons, q more than eightfo
increase.
n This great increase In the consum
10 ton Of beer Is due to the immense INN
~ grafton from the beer. drinking countri
Of Europe, and second, TO the gradu
u abandonment Of the use of whiskey o.
ul other strong stimulants by our natl
IN population and the substitution Of be
and ale In their place. That the eff,
has been q decrease In drunkenness
~ proportion to the population can scare,
I'D be doubted. A man may get very dru
In on beer, but he Is not nearly so apt to
III. SO as the habitual drinker Of whisl
Men who are advanced In years O
whose opportunities for observation hi
lily been good generally corroborate I
the view. Fifty years ago the sideboard
a every well.to.do farmer was adorl
with decanter and glasses, and the mel
IN bOr WIN made n friendly rall and was